Walking my way home from Starbucks takes around 30-40 minutes but walking to Starbucks from school takes around 10 minutes, especially when you have an impatient best friend to run with. But now, I am on my own.

          I decide to take the long way home since I don't have classes until the 4th day of January and I am not much in a hurry. While I was on my way, I stop by the city square to listen to the melodious songs from children caroling. There are also children holding the hands of parents as they are taking a stroll and couples holding hands as they walk. Those kind of scenes give me nostalgia, thinking about not only my parents but also him. I try to bear the pain but nothing seemed to work. I am not crying because I run out of tears earlier but I feel like crying again. The best solution is to ignore them and walk away so I do what my heart tells me to do.

          Slowly walking my way home, I see a familiar place in front of my eyes. A tree that is blanketed with pure white snow. It is a beautiful sight, making me nostalgic and remembering the memories I had. Those memories were wither good or bad. But what I see in front of me is not a great sight.

          Slowly approaching to the tree, there is a familiar tall skinny brunette girl kissing a tall yet familiar blonde man. I know it is them. What is shocking is that they are not kissing under the mistletoe, meaning they are not forced to kiss. I am dumbstruck from the sight I am seeing. I feel the pain in my heart acting up again but I am trying my best not to cry. I sigh then decide to walk away. I am about to walk past them but I hear my name.

          "Alice!" Riley calls my name.

          "What?" I bitterly respond.

          "Please, let me explain. It's not what it looks like." Mitch pleads.

          "You don't need to explain anything. I saw everything."

          That is when I start to sprint away from them. The loud calls of my name is all I hear from the distance but I keep on running without looking back until the voices are gone. Tears stream down on my face as I continue to run home. I thought she is my best friend. Why didn't see tell me? Why did she betray me?

          I pant as I arrive at a white two-storey house, my home. I enter inside then I go to the kitchen and there are my parents and siblings, a younger brother and a younger sister, eating at the dinner table with grins on their faces.

          "Oh! Alice, you are finally home." My mom says.

          "Oh... hi."

          "Alice, join us for dinner." Nicholas (or Nico), my younger brother, requests with a smile on his face.

          "I'm sorry. I'm going to skip dinner for the night."

          "Why?" Mary, my younger sister, asks.

          "It's been a stressful day for me so I think I'm going to hit the hay now."

          "Good night, Alice." My mom gets up from her seat and kiss my cheek.

          "Good night..." I say as I leave the kitchen.

          I climb on the stairs to the second floor of the house then drag my feet to alight brown door, where my room is. I fling my things across the room then change my clothes to my light blue pajamas. I collapse myself to the bed then stare at the white ceiling above. My eyelids are getting heavier by the minute and, eventually, I fall asleep.